


Recovery

by MajorPidge (ScoracleTrash)



Series: Dressage [10]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, really its just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25466686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScoracleTrash/pseuds/MajorPidge
Summary: Armitage has a little trouble riding outside the paddock for the first time, but Pryde can handle his boy even at his poutiest.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Enric Pryde
Series: Dressage [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839196
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> Recovery: when a horse adjusts its balance following a jump.
> 
> I really thought I was only going to do one more of these but then Flapper hit me with a great prompt.

Enric leapt off of Imperator’s back with a practiced dismount that was a sight to behold, but Armitage didn’t see any of it.

He was on the ground beside Aleen, wincing and holding his shoulder, a healthy smear of dirt and grass along his upper arm.

“This is why I didn’t want to ride,” Armitage snarled through gritted teeth, “Too many opportunities to end up injured and looking stupid.”

“You don’t look stupid,” Enric said as he knelt beside him, “If I could play you footage of all the times I made mistakes when I was learning to ride, we would be watching for hours. I just made all my mistakes as a boy rather than a man. Let me see it.” He reached for Armitage’s shoulder.

The young man recoiled slightly.

“Boy, you will let me assess you,” said his mentor in that voice he couldn’t refuse. He exhaled and leaned back toward him.

“I don’t understand what I did wrong.” Armitage’s voice was a boyish pout.

“Well, darling,” sighed Enric, “You tensed up and you hesitated instead of making the jump. You sent him the message that it wasn’t safe to go over the stream.”

“How do you even stop yourself? From making all these slight movements these practically Force-sensitive animals pick up on?”

“Shh, one second.”

Enric took hold of Armitage’s arm and began to slowly guide it through its range of motion. As he held the arm up, the ginger winced.

He let it drop and began to press lightly on the crest of the young man’s shoulder until he found a place that made him let out a soft, “Ahh!”

“Well, it’s not broken,” Enric said, “Just hurt. It will bruise. Let’s get back and we can tend to it.”

Armitage’s eyes flitted over to Aleen.

“I’m not getting back on that thing.”

Enric raised his eyebrow, “That thing is a living being, and a very fine and valuable one at that.”

“He threw me.”

“It was your own fault. And to answer your question, the only way you learn not to send the wrong signals to your mount is through practice and discipline. You won’t become a better rider if you don’t get back on the horse.”

“How am I supposed to get back on when the arm I use to pull myself up is injured?”

Enric thought for a moment, chewing his lip, “Point taken. We can lead them back; it isn’t far and the terrain is easy.”

He helped Armitage to his feet, and he was proud to see his charge go over to Aleen and stroke his neck softly, “Shh,” he murmured, “It’s alright. I’m not mad at you. It was my fault.”

Enric gathered Imperator’s reigns and the two began the trek back to the stables.

“Not exactly the afternoon you were hoping for,” Armitage said apologetically after a while.

“No, but now I get to spend the afternoon lounging with you, and that could never be a bad thing.”

Back in the tack room, Enric helped Armitage remove his riding jacket and the archaic linen shirt that went beneath it.

“Ooh,” the older man sucked air through his teeth, “It’s already bruising. That’s going to look wicked.”

Armitage turned sad eyes to his Owner, “It hurts, Daddy.”

“My poor boy,” Enric retrieved a box from a shelf and sat down beside him, “I’ve got something that will help.”

The ginger gave a bare smile.

“It’s going to feel cold,” his mentor warned before removing his gloves and carefully applying an ointment to his shoulder, “This will have the same effect as icing it. It will also reduce the bruising, because of the herbs in it,” he said as his hand glided across the swelling flesh.

Armitage hissed at the sensation, but relaxed a moment later.

Enric placed a kiss over the skin he had just touched, and pulled his boy’s back close to his chest.

“I’m sorry you took a fall today. That can be very frightening.”

“It was!” Armitage whined, “It was very frightening. One instant everything was fine and the next I was arse over ears.”

“Well you were very brave,” Enric kissed his cheek from behind, “I’m proud of you, and I’ll be even prouder when you ride again.”

“It’s hard to think about it right now,” Armitage confessed, “Normally if I fail at something, I avoid it perpetually.”

“You didn’t fail at anything, dear boy,” the grey-haired man cooed in his charge’s ear, “You learned a lesson about how to communicate with a horse. Was it a failure whenever you hit a snag designing Starkiller and had to take a few steps back and reconsider the design?”

“Well, no,” Armitage flushed a little, “But that’s different. That’s a problem to be solved. Not an action I completed incorrectly.”

“This is just a problem to be solved, too,” Enric said, “We’ll spend some time in the paddock next time, you can practice with the low hurdles a little more. Eventually your body will remember how to jump like you remember your own name.”

Armitage shifted so that he could look into Enric’s eyes, “It’s so foreign to me. Your faith in me. No one has ever had faith in me. My own father, he thought I was useless unless he beat me into being useful. But you...you have this unshakeable belief that I’ll improve.”

“It’s not faith,” his mentor said, leaning in to kiss him softly and whisper against his lips, “It’s certainty. All this time, you have proven to me you can and will learn well with proper instruction. Since we began, you have proved the best pupil I’ve ever taught in any context. I have seen you improve at everything I set you at for almost a year now, Armitage. I know you can improve at this.”

The young man leaned his forehead against Enric’s and smiled. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome, pet,” he wrapped his arms around his boy, “Now come along. Let’s get something to eat and spend the rest of the day lying about in bed like we haven’t a care in the Galaxy.”

“That sounds nice,” Armitage said as he stood and began to carefully put his shirt back on. His jacket he kept draped over his arm.

“It’s almost tea time, anyway. You know it’s not my favorite, but I ordered some tarine for you from the market.”

The young man’s eyes lit up, “Yes! I’ve missed it so much since we left the Steadfast.”

His Daddy gave him an indulgent smile, “Perhaps I’ll try it again. Maybe I just haven’t had it properly prepared.”

“Come down to the kitchens with me and I’ll show you how to brew it properly.”

Enric thought for a moment, “You know, I just might do that. I haven’t brewed my own tea since before I became Allegiant General.”

“That’s because you’re a spoiled aristocrat at heart.”

The older man brought his stick lightly against the younger man’s backside, just enough to make him yelp in surprise, “Such a pretty mouth you have, my boy, and yet so bold at times.”

“You like me bold,” said Armitage with a sense of satisfaction that was reflected in the tilt of his head, “You like knowing you’re the only man in the Galaxy who can bring me properly to heel.”

“With Ren and Palpatine dead at one another’s hands, there really is no one in the Galaxy to challenge either of us. Although for the love of the stars, I need your first project to be to find a way to stop linking planetary-class weapons to main reactors.”

“As you wish, Chancellor Pryde,” Armitage said at the door to the mansion’s terrace, turning to take his Daddy’s hand and draw it to his lips.

“Such a good boy I have,” Enric purred, “Be careful what you say to me, or I’ll have to fuck you regardless of your shoulder.”

“Oh no,” Armitage said with fake shock, “Why, Daddy, you couldn’t possibly.”

“Try me, sweetheart,” he said with a smirk as he opened the glass-paneled door, “After you.”

After making some tea, which even Enric had to admit was good, the two men retired to their room, where they lay half-dressed in bed sampling one another and whatever the droids brought them to eat by turns until the evening light began to shine pink-gold through the windows. 

Then and only then did they drift off to sleep in one another’s arms.


End file.
